A Rose Between Thorns

Chapter 16: Mark of the King

Jin was already waiting at the door for us as we arrived, his eyes going wide when he saw me in Namjoon's arms. "Jungkook, clear the coffee table real fast!" He calls, as we are ushered inside.

The other members are gathered in the living room, all showing a mixture of worry and panic on their faces. No one says anything as the coffee table is cleared by the maknae and I'm set on the couch, though I am simply confused. What is so wrong?

"Can someone explain what's happening?" I ask as Jin carries in a first aid kit. I see Jungkook moving to sit beside Taehyung, holding the man gently in his arms.

Jimin was the one to speak up. "Do you feel any pain..?" he asks in a gentle voice, and I shake my head. The pain I had felt earlier from being kicked in the stomach had disappeared, though I'm not sure why. I feel numb all over, but not to the point where I can't move.

The rest of the members look at each other with worried expressions. Hoseok pulls a mirror out of his pocket and holds it in front of me.

Holy shit. I look like an absolute mess. There is a giant wound on the side of my forehead, blood dripping and trailing down the side of my face. There is also a large red mark on my left cheek, probably from when I was slammed into the wall.

I blink a couple times and raise my hand to brush a strand of my hair from my face, the other one holding the jacket firmly closed. No way in hell am I going to risk seven men seeing my bare chest.

"So that's why Namjoon had blood on his hand," I respond quietly. Namjoon had moved off to the kitchen with Yoongi, I can't hear anything but I can see Namjoon pacing back and forth over there. I turn my attention back to Jin, who had opened a med kit beside me.

"Yes, now can you stay still? I need to dress your wounds," Jin says in a soft tone, removing my face mask from around my mouth.

I feel a slender hand envelop my own. "You can squeeze my hand if it hurts too much," Jimin says from my left with a cute mochi smile. I want to reassure both of them that I'm fine, but seeing the wound makes me realize they won't exactly believe me.

Or at least, they won't listen.

The sting of alcohol burns as Jin gently dabs at my head. I hiss from the sensation, squeezing Jimin's hand a bit as the pain is actually setting in. I feel Jimin's other hand gently rubbing circles on my back in an attempt to relax me. I flinch away, feeling a sudden pain in my back as well.

It was then that Jimin saw the mess of fabric hanging around my waist. "Taylor.." he says, his eyes focused on the black strings below the jacket. "What did they do to you?"

I don't move since Jin is still dressing my head, but I bite my lip to keep from wincing. "What do you mean?" I ask, choosing to be in denial.

With the injuries and my shredded dress, I don't need these guys to worry about me any more than they already are. So I shall deny deny deny, and pretend that none of this ever happened! Brilliant!

Jimin narrows his eyes at me, and I can feel his hand tense in mine. Jin carefully bandages my head then, so I smile at the two boys in the hopes to reassure them. "Do I look badass at least?" I ask jokingly, causing the younger boys to look at me in surprise.

I give them the brightest smile I can, scrunching up my nose and making faces to cheer them up. The younger two return the smile and I can see their faces ease a little, but Jimin merely keeps a stoic expression.

"Alright, princess. All done with your head, but I still need to check for other injuries," Jin says, placing the bandages down beside him. He reaches for the jacket but I shy away, pulling it closer.